The Manager vs The State of Kerala

P.R. Ramachandra Menon, J.—Petitioners (who are the Manager and the concerned teachers respectively) have approached this Court being aggrieved of Exts. P5 and P6 proceedings, whereby the pay of the petitioners 2 to 5 has withheld, referring to Ext. P6 audit objections raised by the 2nd respondent. It is stated that, the petitioners were granted scale of pay with effect from the date of their appointment itself, but according to the 2nd respondent the petitioners 2 to 5 ought to have been given the salary on ''daily wages'', till the end of concerned academic year in which they were appointed. When similar claim came up before this Court by way of W.P.(C). No. 13559 of 2012, Ext. P7 judgment was rendered granting the relief sought for, however, making it clear that, this will be subject to the result of the matter pending consideration before the Apex Court, which arose from the verdict passed by this Court in K. Unni Narayanan, Manager and Others Vs. State of Kerala and Others, .

It is now brought to the notice of this Court that the Apex Court has decided the issued in favour of the persons like the petitioners as per the decision reported in State of Kerala v. Sneha Cherian (2013(1) KLT 755 ) (SC). It is also pointed out by the learned counsel for the petitioners that the relief has been granted by this Court as well, subsequently, based on the above verdict, as per the decision reported in Nair Service Society Vs. State of Kerala, .

The learned Government Pleader made submission based on the contents of the counter affidavit in this regard. But there is no dispute with regard to the culmination of the proceedings by way of the decision of the Apex Court reported in State of Kerala and Others Vs. Kandath Distilleries, and by this Court in Nair Service Society Vs. State of Kerala, .

In the above circumstances, this Court finds that the issue is squarely covered by the decisions rendered by the Apex Court and by this Court, as per the decisions cited supra and the petitioners are also entitled to get similar relief. In the said circumstances, there will be a direction to grant the benefits flowing from Exts. P1 to P4 to the petitioners. The proceedings as above shall be finalized and the arrears of salary shall be disbursed to the petitioners accordingly; at the earliest, at any rate, within ''three months'' from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment. The petitioners shall produce a copy of the judgment along with a copy of the writ petition before the concerned respondent for further steps.

The writ petition is allowed. No costs.